Little Rose
by AffyRainbws
Summary: Amnesia has a funny way of making you remember things you shouldn't know. What will the Cullens do when Edward saves a young girl that knows more about his family than her own past and what will this young girl do with the knowledge she shouldn't have to impact the future. semi SI, all canon pairs
1. Chapter 1 - who?

Eight-year-old Sylvia Rose was as normal and tame as they come - a quiet bookworm who had read almost every book she could get her little hands on, even those considered 'too grown up' for a child. However, despite this she found herself slowly being crushed under the weight of a road train, wondering distantly 'why me?'

Sylvia had been slowly strolling home after school in her small town in central Australia. It wasn't even summer, yet the sun was still baking the already red earth, drying out the air and sapping the moisture from her body. It was 35°c and she had her nose buried in a book - reading about vampires and werewolves and a sleepy little town that rained constantly, covered in green. It was her dream to live like that - cold and damp with supernatural beings to make life fun. But it was mostly the descriptions of the rain she loved. It hadn't rained here in months.

It was only a 10-minute walk home from school, which was all the way across 'town'. Though, truthfully, it could barely be considered a town. It was more of a street that intersected the highway running north to south. No one in town drove their cars and no one ever passed through. So, with only a quick glance up from the final pages of her book, she stepped out onto the highway to her waiting mother.

The last thing she heard beside the screams of her mother and the hissing of truck breaks was the gentle clap of paper as she read the last page of breaking dawn, thoroughly disappointed.

...

Edward was driving home from the small post office of the Talkeetna town centre, a 40-minute drive (even with his speeding) from their home nestled into the edge of the Denali national park in the mountains. He had ordered new headphones but they hadn't come yet. Mumbling to himself at how useless the humans in this town were becoming, he spotted a lump on the centre of the road. Recognising quickly that it was a human, he stopped the car and was with the body in seconds.

Looking down at the child he was almost overwhelmed by the smell of blood that pooled out of her head, staining the ice-covered road and book by her hand. It took all his composure to simply gather the girl up, place her in the back seat, and speed off to the town's tiny hospital toward Carlisle.

...

Sylvia found consciousness slowly, having to drag her thoughts through a thick haze to be aware of the pain that encompassed her body. She concentrated hard on her breathing, raspy over the sound of veering machines and the beeping that was slowly gaining in speed. After forcing her eyes to open she was then confronted with the generic toothpaste walls and bland plastic chairs that filled every hospital she had ever seen. 'What happened to me?' The girl rummaged through her cloudy mind in search of an answer but was quickly cut short when the most beautiful man she had ever seen walked through her door.

"Oh, good you are awake." His voice was so silky, thick and charming that it took her a moment to processes what he said. "How are you feeling?" he asked, smiling as he approached her bed.

Her mind too groggy to even think, she looked blankly up at the man.

He pressed his lips together in response, humming softly as he picked up the clipboard from her bed and looked over it. "Are you able to tell me where you are?"

This she understood. However, her mouth became suddenly dry and her voice was nowhere to be found so instead she resolved to shake her head, painful though it was.

The doctor made another humming sound as he scribbled on the clipboard. "That's okay. Can you tell me your name, at least?"

This time she took a moment to really think. 'What is my name?' she wondered hard. The words were only a whisper as they left her. "Sylvia Rose, I think."

"Well, then Sylvia," he began, saying her name with great care as he checked the drips and her heart monitor, "do you remember what happened?"

For a second she could feel the sweltering sun, some far-off scream echoing in her mind as the pages of a book fell into a pool of blood. As quickly as it came, the vision disappeared. She shook her head again.

"Well, dear, we think you were hit by a car on the road just out of town," he began again, now slowly putting the clipboard down and looking at her face. "We haven't been able to find your parents. Do you know where they are?"

Sylvia retreated once again to her mind and found it very blank. She knew her name, but that was it - she couldn't remember any family. Slowly, she looked down at her hands and barely kept herself from screaming. What should be olive tan skin was now almost translucent. She looked up at the doctor in horror, tears streaming her face now. "W-who am I? I-I can't remember!"

* * *

 **Hey thanks for reading - please review and tell me what you think!**

 **Anyways, thanks and have a nice day!**

 **And a big thanks to the lovely imaginestories for helping me edit this!**


	2. Chapter 2 - monster stories

They said it was retrograde amnesia. Or, at least, that was how her beautiful doctor explained it to her - that she bumped her head too hard and her memory fell out.

They think it was a hit and run just out of town that left her in a coma for four days. Well, that, along with a linear skull fracture, concussion, broken left leg, punctured lung, several broken ribs, and large gashes which ran along her head, back and arms. Everything hurt and the doctors said she would have to be kept here for at least a month or until they found her family. She wasn't always alone however; the nurses were very nice when they checked up on her, and her wonderful doctor with the charming face came in often. Even the doctor's youngest son, the one who saved her life, came in to see her. He was equally as stunning and even a touch familiar but she couldn't put her finger on why. Maybe she had seen him in a dream.

...

He first came bringing flowers and the bloody book she was found with.

"Hello," his voice was soft, "I wanted to see how you are doing."

Sylvia, who had been poking at the slop they tried to call food whilst laying in the stiff hospital bed, looked up at the teenager and smiled softly as she awkwardly accepted her gifts. She looked down at the book and her brow furrowed. Her mind was reaching for images she couldn't quite see, making her visibly angry.

The boy back peddled, mistaking the reason for her anger. "I'm sorry, I'm Edward, the one who found you. I came to see how you were recovering."

To this, she smiled brighter and pushed back the images in her mind. "Then I'm in your debt. Edward." She looked down at her gifts, mostly the bloody paperback, trying to understand the title as best could through the dried blood and dirt. "I'm sorry, but did I know you from before the accident?"

The boy placed the flowers in a vase and smiled. "No, you didn't, sorry. Am I familiar?"

"Yeah, almost how I imagined a character out of a story book, but I couldn't tell you which one. I don't quite remember".

For a while they talked about where she was and how she was doing. He was nice and charming but there was something painfully familiar about him she couldn't place and the book she was given had made her head hurt. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't make the letters make sense. When she touched it her hands felt numb, her ears buzzed with foggy voices. When she closed her eyes she could almost see things she didn't understand. Some part of her stomach lurched at the sight of the book in her hands and once Edward had left she handed it to a nurse, asking for it to be put in a plastic container on the shelf at the end of her room where she couldn't touch it.

That night she dreamt of playing the piano with Edward in a forest, while Carlisle and a lady she couldn't see held hands and watched over them.

...

The next day Edward decided to bring Sylvia food, the sight of which nearly causing Sylvia to tumble from her bed in sheer joy. She was a fun kid, Edward found. It was pleasant to experience the mind of a human female who thought of other things than ripping his clothes off. She told him more about the story she recognised him from, saying it was a love story with monsters but couldn't remember who was in love and if the monsters were bad ones.

At this, he was amused. "Monsters are always bad, Sylvi," Edward chuckled dryly. "You should always stay away from monsters." His words teamed a hidden meaning he knew she wouldn't understand.

"Even the ones who only come out at night?" Her voice was innocent and sweet as ever but held an intelligence that Edward hadn't thought she was capable of.

"Yes, especially the ones who come out at night."

...

He then came with an iPod and headphones after listening to her complain of boredom for an hour straight last time. She told him more about his story. Apparently, he was the one in love, to someone he couldn't, which caused him to run away and fight with his four older siblings. She said she liked Alice the most.

'When did I tell her about my siblings?' Edward thought. For now, he decided he would brush it aside. 'Maybe it was Carlisle.'

...

It took two weeks for the police to find out who Sylvia Rose was, or - to be more exact - Amelia Jones.

At first, the police came simply to question her and take photos. A week later they returned with a new name and grave news. Amelia Jones was the adopted daughter of Mary and Steve Jones, both of whom had been found dead along with their three other children. They had crashed into a tree along the same highway she was found. The police questioned her for hours, trying to dig deeper into why she was found so far away from the place her family crashed, but with Sylvia's complete lack of memory they could only speculate - some theories more unsavoury than others. One officer suggested that she survived the crash and walked up the road before passing out from her injuries, while another theorised that it may have been her family who ran her over before committing suicide.

Part of her felt sad for their death. Or, at least, like she should be sad. But she couldn't bring herself to. Instead, her heart mourned a face she couldn't see in a town that was too hot.

And a name that was no longer hers.

...

Refusal to believe who she was was one of the reasons why Sylvia avoided mirrors as direly as she did. However, the day after the police gave her a family photo and a new name she gave in to curiosity and decided she needed to know the face of who she was. This did nothing to calm her nerves, however. The pale skin of her hands was already more of a shock than she could handle - part of her was terrified of what she would do if an unfamiliar face looked back at her. Not that she was sure what a familiar face would even look like (a fact that scared her more than she would willingly admit). So, with Dr Cullen sat by her side holding her free hand in support, she took a deep breath, bit her tongue so she wouldn't scream, and wrestled down her anxiety as she slowly raised the mirror to her face.

Her skin was pale with a light dusting of freckles across her cheeks, her eyes were hazel instead of a more natural chocolate and her hair that should have been strawberry blond was now thick, curly and chestnut red. It would have made her vomit, if not for the shape of her face remaining familiar: strong cheekbones under her chubby cheeks, small cupid lips and an upturned nose. Her face scared her less than she expected, and she almost smiled at it. Almost.

"Are you alright there, Amelia?" Carlisle asked, watching her strained expression.

"Please call me Sylvi, Amelia just feels wrong..." her voice trailed off, soft and distracted, before looking up at him and speaking more strongly. "I guess I was just expecting something different… Is Edward coming over with food again?"

The delight on her doctor's face was hidden with his hand, but not well enough. "He didn't mention anything about it. Were you expecting him to come?"

"No, not really, but I have more of his story to tell him." Sylvia sat up more going back to looking intently at her pale face. "I remembered what he was and why he couldn't be in love."

The doctor smiled. She was a curious kid with a vivid imagination but he was mostly glad his son was making some kind of a friend, something he had begun to fear Edward was incapable of. "Oh, and why is that?"

"Cause he's a 100-year-old vampire and she's a human girl who keeps falling over." She stated matter of factly, not looking away from the mirror but instead making faces at herself. "They end up together in the end, though, Alice saw it."

Carlisle was shocked but hid it well. "How did you come to that conclusion?"

"I read it in a book once, I think."

...

That dinner Edward did come around with food and a smile. "How are you fairing?"

Pulling out her headphones, she smiled wide. "Oh, I'm better - now my friends here," she giggled, pausing to accept the spaghetti. "I looked in the mirror today." Her expression was hard to read but her mind was again grasping at images she couldn't reach, an experience Edward was beginning to find quite jarring.

"I heard. Carlisle said you weren't happy."

"No, not unhappy, just confused. I'm too... white..." She extended her hand out in front of her face.

He laughed, comparing his crystal white hand to her pale one. "Not _that_ white."

As she was eating, he told her of his day at school, trying as hard as he could to make it remotely interesting. But, he later mused, to a girl with no past everything must be interesting. Sylvia was the most attentive listener - 'oohing' and 'aahing' whenever appropriate and asking for detail anywhere she could. The outside world intrigued her and she was most desperate to find out about life beyond her hospital bed - to know what school was like, where the sun went at night and if snow was as fluffy as it looked. Although in all her questioning, her favourite topic seemed to be his family and life (despite already knowing far more than any normal human should).

"How many times have you completed high school?" she asked when he was finished, the most innocent smile painted on her face. He was momentarily stunned, not yet used to her asking questions without thinking them out beforehand. He spent a second trying to think about safe answers when she cut in. "I mean, in the story you and your siblings completed it a lot to keep you safe, so I... umm…" her voice trailed not sure where she was going with this.

"How old am I in your story?" he tried to ask casually.

"Oh, I can't be sure, but somewhere around 110 I think, you're not the oldest though. Dr. Cullen was born like 300 years ago, or something. Hey, Edward?" she asked sweetly, once again interrupting his chain of thought before he could truly delve into pondering what such knowledge implied.

"Yeah, whats up?" He replied gently, knowing and dreading what she was about to say from her thoughts.

"What's going to happen to me when I'm let out of the hospital? - seeing as I have no family or anything."

"I don't know, Sylvi." He looked away. "Probably go into foster care." He couldn't bring himself to lie to her. Carlisle had already asked the police about her fate, but it still hurt to see the sadnesses in her eyes.

"Oh, okay. Will I be able to stay in town at least, so I can visit you and Carlisle and Alice and all your siblings? You're all very nice and - and I want to stay your friend..." she muttered, face turned down to poke at the remains of her dinner.

Edward sighed (a human trait he picked up from spending so much time in the hospital) preparing himself to explain to this child that it wasn't safe to be around him when Carlisle stepped into the room to check on her stitches.

"How's my favourite patient doing?" Edward watched as Carlisle smiled, petting the girl's hair as he gently looked at her wounds.

"Hey, Dr. Carlisle?" Sylvia asked, leaning forward so he could get a good look at her head. "You and your family are vegetarians, right?"

Carlisle's hands froze for a split second but he managed to carry on, humming in reply while he gathered his thoughts."I guess you could say that."

"Then it would be safe if I came to live with you, right?" Her voice was brimming with anticipation. "I promise to be good and not get paper cuts. I even won't bother Jasper at all - I know he will struggle to be around me. Pleeaase!"

The two vampires were stunned for a moment. Eventually, Carlisle leaned her head backwards and looked at her calmly.

"Now dear, what makes to say that?"

"I read it in a book somewhere once -I promise I'll be good!" Her eyes wandered back to the bloody book sealed in an airtight container at the end of her room, its unreadable pages whispering stories only she could hear. Telling her tales of vampires and wolves and a beautiful family who lived in a white house by a river.

"Please."

* * *

 **That's chapter 2 down!** **have a nice day and please review!**

 **~Edited by ImagineStories**


	3. Chapter 3 - in the mountians

Today it was almost sunny up in the mountains, leading Alice and her husband to visit their favourite clearing and paint. Well, Alice was painting - Jasper much preferred to do charcoal sketches of leaves and flowers or simply watch Alice dance around the clearing, paintbrush in hand.

The day eased into late afternoon without a word between the couple, neither in the mood to continue discussing the latest family affairs - namely Edward's friendship with the strange human girl. The human - Sylvia - seemed to be on everyone's mind lately due to her increasingly alarming knowledge about their family. It was Rosalie who first seemed troubled (read: obsessive) with a passing comment about her curiously accurate "monster stories", yet now even Alice couldn't help but become concerned. Earlier in the day, the girl had mentioned something to Carlisle about "reading a book" in which Edward was a vampire and that Alice - who she hasn't even met! - saw visions. The topic was now causing a tangible tension in her household, especially considering the way Rosalie was carrying on about it. With Edward intending to visit her today anyway, Alice decided it would be fair to let the universe sort itself out for once and do some painting with her beloved. The brief reprieve from Rosalie was just a bonus.

That was before her vision blurred and warm images flooded her mind.

...

To Jasper sitting nearby, he saw his darling wife drop her paint brush and pallet, and stare off into oblivion her emotions flickering erratically. It lasted only a minute and when she returned to herself. Jasper was by her side calming her emotions and asking his practised questions. What happened? Who was there? When will this happen? Where? However, as he began to craft an idea of the vision over her hysteria, he slipped from alarm into shock. Apparently, Sylvia Rose - Edward's human friend - was to be adopted in a few weeks time and she would speak of nothing other than a nice vampire family: the Cullens.

"We're all she knows..." Alice stuttered out from underneath Jasper's embrace. "She didn't know any better!" From then the Volturi will be quick to find and identify the child as a risk to their society and kill her, pulling her to pieces bit by bit not even attempting to make it look like an accident.

"That's not the worst part," Alice choked holding, onto Jasper for support. "Edward will blame himself for her death. He'll chase after them. Jasper, he's going to get himself killed!"

...

It was night by the time the couple made it back to the house, desperate to find Carlisle before running into their brother. Not letting Edward know was of the utmost importance in order to not cause panic among the family, yet it was an almost impossible task. He was waiting for them at the door, demanding to know why Jasper was focusing so hard on keeping Alice calm and why Alice was focusing so hard on reciting children's rhymes to keep herself from thinking. While simply filling her mind with useless rhymes only stopped Edward from spying on her mind, it did nothing to stop him from attacking Alice physically. Which he did, pushing Jasper aside and taking hold of Alice before said girl had a chance to see his decisions effect on the future.

In seeing his wife held in a headlock Jasper caved and began to explain what Alice had seen, filling the room with as much calmness he could muster under his own distress. Alice herself let her mind reach out for the future looking for ways she could direct this conversation to a pleasant ending. However, listening to Jasper talk about her previous vision pushed her mind into reliving the images of the human child being ripped apart in painful clarity. It was almost certain that this would be her fate if nothing was done.

"No. It won't let that happen! ?!" Edward fumed, reacting to both their thoughts as well as their words. He let his arms drop from around Alice as the rest of the family was drawn to the commotion.

"What's going on here?" Esme asked, her voice filled the room with concern and authority as she took hold of her frantic son. With Esme here, Jasper began explaining their situation for a second time whilst pulling a still distressed Alice toward him and tucking her into his side.

"How far away is this Alice?" Carlisle interjected upon entering the room.

"I can't be sure. Something keeps changing. Maybe it's the social workers, maybe something else, but it will only take about two months."

The head of the family smiled. "Then we have two months," he spoke gently, attempting to calm his family, but Alice shook her head forcefully.

"No, two months for her to die, a month to get their hands on her, and less to begin being watched. We've got a week or two at most."

"She leaves the hospital in a week!" Edward spat through gritted teeth, anxiously Esme's iron grasp.

Carlisle sighed and sat gingerly on the lounge, legs crossed. For a long moment, he was silent, his hands pressed together near his mouth while everyone waited in tension for him to speak.

"We could always adopt her," he finally spoke. The room froze. With a small, stressed sigh, he began to elaborate. "She already knows everything about us. In fact, as Alice says, we're a she seems to know. While it would still be dangerous, we have to consider that she would be safer with us than humans that won't understand and-"

He was curtly cut off by Rosalie growling at him in German - her favourite language for swearing - before swapping back to English. "No. No way! You'll be putting our whole family at risk, not to mention condemning another innocent! Can you not remember last time?!"

At this, the family couldn't help but flinch at the memory.

Now this time she is referring to was a once young Russian boy named Anton Petrov, whose family had been mauled by a bear hiking and to whom Rosalie had grown instantly attached to. She demanded that they adopt the boy - only six at the time - and raise him as their own. Carlisle had approved, knowing her dream of having children, and Rosalie and Emmett cared for Anton like a son. They had looked after his every need, keeping him away from their blood lusting siblings and hiding the truth from him as best they could. Though of course, despite their best efforts, he grew inquisitive, asking questions that were not meant to be asked and were given answers he was not meant to understand, though slowly comprehending. When Rosalie finally caved and told him the truth he became resentful and angry, he was only fifteen when he ran away. Anton did come back over the years but never to stay. He would be thirty-seven now and only occasionally called around Christmas.

No one spoke again for a while, each choosing to reflect on the decision to raise another human in their own minds. It took another five minutes until Edward spoke, barely above a whisper. "Alice, could it work?"

She took a moment before nodding slowly.

...

Over the course of that week each member of the Cullen family came to meet Sylvia Rose, even Rosalie, who Sylvia admitted was almost more beautiful than she imagined. It only took five minutes for Esme to fall in love and even less for Alice, who lifted the girl immediately off her bed and started dancing around the room with her, joyously remarking on how she was so 'adorably small'. By the end of that week Sylvia was dismissed from the hospital and child serves came to collect her. The Cullen's waved her off as she was taken three towns away to a temporary home with nine other foster kids and any hope Sylvia had of seeing her best friend again slipped like water through her fingers.

Ten days she stayed in that house, still mostly bed ridden and fearful of the future. She clung desperately onto the promise she made Edward before leaving, to keep her story of his family a secret for only the two of them, hoping that she might get to tell him more.

That is until things changed.

Her second Saturday she was summoned to the kitchen where her fairy-tale family was sitting at the table with her foster 'mum' and a social worker. That afternoon, she found herself smiling freely for the first time since leaving the hospital.

She was being adopted!

…..

The drive to the Cullen's house was long and it gave Sylvia a chance to have a good, long conversation while sat beside her social worker, Jill. Jill was a lovely, tall lady who talked a lot about nothing at all. She told Sylvia what they knew about Amelia Jones - where she lived and what her family had done. Amelia was adopted as a baby and brought up with the Jones family's three other kids (also adopted) where she lived and went to school in Juneau, Alaska's largest city. Her parents were both dentists and orphans as well who grew up in the same home. They ran away when they were both seventeen. This meant, however, that Amelia had no other family who could take her in even if they wanted to. For this, Jill was very apologetic - despite it not being her fault at all - and repetitively commended the Cullen's for their kindness and generosity for taking Sylvia on with five other children already in their care. Jill had also promised to try get in contact with some of Amelia's old school friends so she that could learn more about herself. This Sylvia was not overly keen on. She was not Amelia and therefore didn't want to meet Amelia's friends, scared to find out how they would react once they discovered she was merely an imposter in Amelia's body.

"It'll be a good thing for you to see them again, even if you can't remember them," Jill said, smiling as the car wound precariously up the hill. "Oh, and I almost forgot, even though you missed the funeral - being in the hospital, and all - there will be a memorial for your family later in the week - Wednesday, I think. If you want, I can pick you up and take you down south for the day - We can even get ice cream!"

Jill was extremely jubilant and made Sylvia feel comfortable, but the idea of going to a memorial for someone she couldn't even picture was terrifying. She would feel mighty out of place and she was unsure if it would be at all rude. 'Aren't memorials for remembering the dead? Going when I can't remember them seems silly,' she thought. There was a part of her, however, that felt like she owed it to Amelia to see her family off in some way - and another small part of her that was beginning to worry that thinking of Amelia as being separate to herself was going to give her a complex of some kind.

"It won't be rude, will it?" Silvia asked, her voice small.

"Rude? Oh, heavens no, child, how could it be rude? They would love to see you I promise. They're holding it this late in hopes that you'll be able to make it. I'll be there with you as well, remember - every step of the way."

This made Sylvia feel better, so she tentatively agreed… not that she was given much of a choice. 'I've got three days to back out if I wanted, anyway,' she reasoned to herself.

...

"It's cold here," was the first comment Sylvia made upon leaving the car. She shivered and wrapped her hand-me-down jumper closer to her torso the best she could while hobbling around on crutches towards the house, Jill by her side carrying her few belongings in a saggy duffel bag. Once inside where it was warm, she was greeted by her new family of seven, all sporting bright golden eyes and even brighter smiles.

"It's good to see you made it all right, dear," Esme smiled, giving her a light hug and leading her towards the fire in the lounge room amidst fretting over how thin her clothes were. Carlisle lead Jill to the kitchen (which was overflowing with food) to offer her a cup of tea and make Silvia some hot chocolate. They talked for a while. Two hours to be exact. Jill was trying to be serious, warning the family as threateningly as she could that 'Amelia' could and would be taken away if she were at all mistreated, but her arguments fell short upon beautiful eyes and attentive ears and she couldn't bring herself to be cruel. Eventually, after conducting her own secondary inspection of Sylvia's bed room and house and still unable to find anything out of place, Jill left Sylvia with a hug and a promise to return on Wednesday to take her down south for the memorial.

"If you need me at all, dearie, this is my phone number. All you need to do is call and I'll be right over, okay?" The tall woman vowed before giving her a parting pat on the head "Stay safe Amelia." Sylvia waved and thanked her repetitively, all the while wishing Jill would stop calling her Amelia...

...

Dinner was an awkward game of charades. Each member of the family sat around the table with a plate of homemade lasagne, making small talk in voices just a little too loud and pretending to keep up the appearance of a normal human family (though failing). Only Sylvia was eating, overly grateful to have something other than hospital food or cabbage soup, to which she kept reminding Esme after every bite.

"You are an amazing cook Esme!" Silvia chirped for the seventh time that evening. "It's really amazing, considering."

Esme was smiling wide, glad she was making the child happy and was about the thank her again for her kindness when Rosalie cut in.

"What do you mean considering?" her voice demanding, though with a touch of concern.

"Oh, you know, considering that you don't eat the same as me."

Esme smiled gently. "Oh? What do you me-"

Rosalie cut in again."How is it that you could possibly know that?"

"I think I read it in a book once," was the child's swift reply, while Carlisle gave Rose a sharp look, ending the conversation.

...

After dinner and dessert, Sylvia was given another more personal tour of the house from Edward, detailing the use and possession of each room and letting her inspect every detail of the house to learn her way around. Of course, they paid particular attention to Sylvia's new bedroom. It was a large room in comparison to her one at the hospital and that which she shared in foster care. It was sparsely furnished with only the utmost necessities, giving way to an unsettling amount of empty space that clung to the edges of the room like a shadow. If she were to be left alone Sylvia feared that the nothingness might eat her up. Their tour ended on the third floor of the house in a loft like observatory with a telescope and bean bags.

"You wanted to see where the sun went at night?" Edward grinned as he motioned to the telescope that pointed out the large circular window. "It's a bit cloudy tonight so we won't be able to see much but this is the best place to look at the stars. Look there." Edward placed an icy hand on Sylvia's shoulder and angled her towards an almost clear part of the sky "See those four stars in a line and the three that form a diamond on the end?"

It took her a moment of following his finger and counting stars to see what he was talking about. "Yeah, I think so."

"That's a constellation called the big dipper, and if you draw a line connecting the stars it looks like a large spoon." Sylvia was extending her hand in front of her face to trace a line in the air with her fingers, focusing hard on the task, when she saw flashes from behind his eyes of hundreds of hands reaching up pointing to the same constellation. It made her fingers tingle and she had the unsettling sensation of déjà vu. It lasted half a second, but when she turned to Edward he had a troubled look on his face. "Bed time for you, I think," his voice careful and his brows knitted tightly together in concern.

Edward helped her down from the loft and lead her back to her room. From there he handed her over to Esme, who helped her change into some loose pyjamas and tucked her into her queen single bed, wishing her goodnight.

"Can I get you anything, dear?" Esme asked as she leaned over to kiss Sylvia on her forehead and pull up her blankets.

"No, I'm alright Esme, thanks... but- um, hey, you don't think I upset Rosalie at dinner, do you?"

Esme gave her a gentle, loving smile and placed her hand on the child's cheek. "Don't worry about Rosalie, okay dear? She'll come around. You just get some sleep. Good night love, see you in the morning."

Sylvia smiled as she watched Esme walk gracefully towards the threshold of her too empty room. Her smile quickly turned to panic she could almost see the nothingness creep in and fill the room with Esme's departure, waiting till she was all alone to eat her.

"U-um, actually, do you mind staying with me, until I fall asleep... please?" Despite her best efforts, Sylvia was completely unable to hide the fear in her voice, but her new mother paid it no particular attention. She simply turned around, banishing the emptiness once again to the corners of the room, and picked up the chair placed at the far end of the room to place it beside the bed.

"Sure, darling. Don't you worry, I'll be here when you wake up. I promise." Esme then began to hum and trace patterns on the child's forehead until her eyes drifted closed and her breathing slowed.

"You don't really intend to stay there all night, do you?" Edward asked poking his head in through the doorway.

Esme still humming looked up at her son and smiled warmly, "Of course, I do," she said, vocalising her conviction for the rest of the family to hear. "I promised her, did I not?"

* * *

 **Boom! Chapter 3!**

 **Let me know what you think and feel free to notify me of any mistakes so that I can fix them. I hope none of the pre-existing characters are too out of character here. I tried, but it's hard to judge your own work.**

 **Please, please review so I know what people think and I'll get back to you in the next chapter.**

 **~Edited by ImagineStories**


	4. Chapter 4 - memorial

Wednesday came to quick. Alice woke Sylvia up with a solemn smile and helped her get ready. Dressing her in a formal black dress that fell to her knees a pair of cut up stockings that ended just above her cast on one leg with a long dark navy blue coat and a dark grey scarf. "there we go" Alice smiled down at her work. "It's not a funeral so you can have some colour in there".

"This is okay right, Alice?" Sylvia asked fitting the crutches under her arms looking up at the older girl, "like this isn't rude that I'm going, right?"

"How could you possibly be rude Sylvi?" Alice laughed as she helped the child out of her room and down the stairs. "Just because you don't remember them doesn't make them any less important, they were still your family don't forget that"

Sylvia could only nod in reply. She briefly considered telling Alice about the human family she had also forgotten but nerves stole the words from her mouth so instead resorted to chanting 'do this for Amelia' in her mind as she descended the stairs for breakfast. 'Do this for Amelia.'

Eventually, Jill was knocking on the door dressed in a long dark coat and dress pants that only made her appear taller. Her face held a solemn smile matching the one's Alice and the rest of the Cullen's sent Sylvia's way. Sylvia had trouble feeling anything other than uncomfortable. All this talk about her dead 'family' was creating an itch in her mind she couldn't quite reach, her brain was grasping again for images she didn't understand. If she focused on them hard enough she could almost make out a lady standing across a road in a sea of red but she couldn't be sure making her mad. These imaged she couldn't make out were getting quite annoying so to push this particular one aside Sylvia returned to nervously chanting 'do this for Amelia' in her head.

Before walking out the door Edward caught her shoulder gently and bent down to whisper quietly in her ear, "Amelia would be grateful". He then gave her a reassuring smile and waved her out the door.

.

Not much was said on the painfully long drive to Juneau. Jill tried her best to be joyful, she explaining as unemotionally as one could about what to expect at the memorial, what they were expected to do and what was going to happen. It was an informal gathering of friends at the Jones old house where each close family member (or in this case friend) will say a little something, usually poems and quotes from various books and people. Jill explained how she had already spoken to the family running the event and explained Amelia's situation to them. Jill said they were overjoyed that she was okay and promised to make sure she was not bothered too much. This made Sylvia feel a great deal better but not enough to be able to sit comfortably on the drive down south, the idea of paying respects to a family she should know but didn't made her skin crawl.

.

They arrived 10 minutes late and the road was already packed forcing Jill to park two streets down. The house was even worse. It was a small building packed full of sad faces from friends young and old remembering the good old times, everyone was dressed in dark clothes and young children weaved their way among the adults' legs blissfully unaware of the event purpose.

The house wasn't familiar at all and neither were the people in it, making Sylvia feel even more like an intruder to this sad event than she did in the car. Jill held her shoulder firmly as they made their way through the crowd looking for a lady named Maddie (Mary- Amelia's mums best friend) who was organising the event and the one Jill had spoken to over the phone. They didn't make it half way through the house however when Sylvia was collided into by a girl her age who was almost sobbing.

"Amelia I'm so glad you're okay" the girl choked out as she clung to Sylvia, who just stood there shocked, losing hold of her crutches in the process.

The interaction was almost over as soon as it began as an older lady pried the new girl away from Sylvia begging her to be gentle. "I'm so sorry Amelia, Emily has just been very worried about you" she spoke hugging the child, "ahh you must be Jill" The lady extended her hand to the tall woman who was currently preoccupied bent down making sure her charge was still able to stand and walk.

Gently handing back the crutches to Sylvia Jill smiled wide and took the woman's hand "and you must be Maddie, thank you for inviting us".

"No, it's my pleasure, thank you for bringing Amelia back down to see us again" the woman then bent down to her distraught child telling her to run and find her father, which she did without looking up. "how are you feeling dear" the woman turned to the slowly panicking Sylvia once the girl named Emily had left. "You probably don't know who I am, do you? I'm sorry, I'm Maddie I was friends with your mum."

Sylvia tentatively took her hand and shook it with care, "nice to meet you I'm Syl- Amelia…" she caught herself just in time and let her head drop in shame, she shouldn't be here.

Maddie gave a shocked look but pushed it aside, "it's good to see you safe, we've all missed you."

They all eventually made their way outside to the slightly less crowded back yard and Sylvia was given a seat. Maddie then began introducing her husband and the relentless stream of friends that begun crowding around giving their condolences. Sylvia felt quite strange with the whole affair, seated in a circle of adults who were desperately trying to get her attention and trying to wish her luck and happiness. 'Is this what it was like to be a queen?' she thought while wishing herself that they would all go away. Eventually, the official ceremonies begun and her adoring crowd was forced to disperse.

The event ran just like Jill had explained, everyone stood in fount a large tree in the yard and listened to an endless stream of poems, anecdotes and stories from friends of the family, some school mates of Amelia's siblings stood and said a few words, and Maddie spoke fondly of going to college and living with Mary. Finally, it was all over and Jill made a move to stand when Emily, the girl from before came up again and looked deeply into Sylvia's eyes.

"Um Amelia, do you really not remember me at all?" she asked fiddling with her dress.

"Sorry no, it's nice to meet you, however" Sylvia extended her hand, faking a smile. It wasn't nice to meet Emily, not at all. She kept calling her Amelia -a name she was Quickly detesting- and Sylvia hoped dearly that once this day was over she would never have to be called it again. It made her feel sick, like an imposter, and she hated it. Emily though only looked at her stunned.

"Why do you sound so funny" the girl scrunched up her nose in confusion.

"What you do mean" Sylvia looked to Jill for help but saw the lanky woman had found herself some adults to chatter with and wasn't paying her any attention. Groan.

"I don't know, it's just not like you" the girl swayed in contemplation "hey say garage" Sylvia complied saying like she normally would when Emily almost started laughing. "Why'd you say it like that"

"Like what" Sylvia was getting mad at this, but tried to stay calm, 'do this for Amelia' her mind chanted but the phrase was quickly losing meaning.

"like GARR-arge" Emily sounded out the word emphasising Sylvia's apparent mistake giggling to herself. "I think you hit your head too hard". The girl got her to say a series of other words, some extracting thunderous laughs from the child others not too much. It wasn't until it was getting dark that Jill finally said it was time to head home and pulled Sylvia away from the aggravating situation.

.

On the drive home after getting pizza and ice-cream in town Sylvia asked Jill.

"Do I sound funny"

"Who told you that"

"Emily, she kept making me say words and then laughing when I said them different to her"

Jill was quiet for a moment wondering on how to word this appropriately. "Well dear I'm not sure where you get it from but you do have a slightly Australian accent?"

"Australian? What's that" Jill just laughed as she begun explaining to the little girl what countries were and how people from different places said things in different ways.

Sylvia was fast asleep by the time they made it up to the house in the hills and Jill handed back custody to Carlisle and Esme who carried her into the house to bed. Jill simply smiled looking at the love in Esme's eyes as she held the child in her arms. 'Amelia's going to be just fine' she thought as she got in her car and drove away.

…

Carlisle sat looking over Sylvia's brain scans and blood tests desperately trying to spot something he had previously missed. The child was unusual to say the least and the three short days she had spent with the family proved she was even more so. Her unfortunate amnesia was the cause for a great deal of her peculiarity. It stripped away her general knowledge leaving her completely incapable of understanding sarcasm or sayings, unable to see past the literal meaning of a sentence. She had particular difficulty with idioms when Esme commented that it was 'raining cats and dogs' Sylvia was frightened into racing to the window expecting to see actual cats and dogs falling from the sky as opposed to lots of rain. Her amnesia had also affected some more obvious aspects of her memory, she was completely unable to read or write, her history and geography were also all but non-existent. For these reasons, Esme had insisted on home schooling the child for a few months so she wouldn't get bullied for being in special classes.

However, Sylvia's behaviour extended past what her amnesia could explain. She was mostly quiet lacking the natural enthusiasm most children her age possessed, but when she did speak it was almost always confusing or unsettling reminding everyone constantly that she knew more than any human should. She wore gloves when handling paper to avoided cuts, she never ran about the house or tried to play like normal kids, her eyes would go glossy when handling books and photographs and never volunteered to spend time alone with any member of the family besides Carlisle himself. Some might take this for nervousness being surrounded by new people but it was the way she instinctively avoided Jasper over the rest of the family, giving him bright smiles and warm waves from across the room to interact, whispering her good nights to him and hugging Alice as little as she could to "not make his wife smell like a human".

These were all things Jasper was overly grateful for but they made the rest of the family suspicious. Rosalie more so than the others had been outwardly rude to the poor child confronting her constantly as to the origins of her unusual knowledge. Sylvia would always smile and reply the same "I read it in a book once". When Esme asked if she was okay with the way Rosalie was treating her Sylvia responded with more maturity than any child should possess "I know she doesn't hate me, she's just trying to keep me safe in the best way she knows".

Carlisle was convinced that she could not possibly be normal, or at least of sound mind and had spent the morning since Sylvia left for Juneau to study her medical records paying meticulous attention to the brain scan they took while she was still in her coma from the crash. He could find nothing particularly interesting despite the bruising on her brain caused by accident and the result of her amnesia. Frowning the Dr pushed aside his papers and placed his head in his hands for a rest. Edward said that Sylvia fully believed that it was merely a book where she attained her information about the family but aside from that had been rather secretive about what she was thinking. Her book excuse was a possibility Carlisle found to be unacceptable, no book about his family's past or future could possibly exist, especially not one so detailed or one that was handed to a normal 8-year-old. Carlisle suspected that her strange knowledge was only the product of something more unsettling something out of this realm but he didn't know what. Jasper, as always preparing for the worst had proposed that maybe she was being used as a tool by another coven to try and separate them or gain information. That idea also seemed unlikely, they had no real enemies or none that would go to such lengths to use a human child.

There was also her impeccable patience. He first noticed it at the hospital, catching glimpses of her simply sitting at the end of her bed swinging her legs and swaying with a non-existed breeze. She was waiting. For what Carlisle wasn't sure, he didn't know if she was aware of what she was doing. But he could not find anything sinister in her still, unrelenting patience it was only unsettling to watch her live in this purgatory. More so now considering how attached his wife was becoming to the child. First Esme loved the human for the smiles she was able to coax out of Edward but now she was beginning to love her simply for herself and that was dangerous. Carlisle already feared that Esme's attachment to the human was much too strong that if this bizarre girl turned out to be dangerous like Jasper proposed it would be almost impossible to ignore his wife's devotion and remove the child from their lives easily. He only wished he made the right decision by bringing her into their lives and hoped what she was waiting for wouldn't harm his family. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at his office door, it was Rosalie.

"Come in" Carlisle called, and the girl entered her face cautious and shameful, "what's the matter, dear".

Taking a seat from across his desk looking down she spoke, "do you think it would be okay if Emmet and I went and spent a few days with Tanya?" Although he expected some of his family would want to go and spend a few days with their cousins he had assumed it would be Jasper and Alice who would leave first, but to his credit, Jasper was putting a great deal of strength into being around the child as much as possible. Even if his intentions for doing so was to watch a possible threat, Carlisle was still proud.

"You know I can't stop you, but I do want to know your reasoning"

"I just, I need to get my thoughts together, having a human here isn't… I just need time to think, okay. The girl is way too strange it's unsettling, but I don't want to make her hate me so maybe if I go away then she can forget I was so mean and…"

"You know she doesn't hate you Rose" Carlisle sighed leaning back in his chair, "but if you need time I believe she will understand, she knows you way better than you think she does"

Rosalie stood immediately slamming her hands down dangerously hard on his mahogany desk he gave her a sharp warning look but she ignored him. "That's the problem! She knows me too well she knows all of us to well. You know she asked Emmet the other day if it was appropriate to refer to him as a bear since that was the same way he died! I don't understand…" She slumped down into her chair again looking at the hand marks she left in Carlisle's desk "sorry".

Pushing papers over to cover the hand prints he turned to his distraught daughter. "Desks are replaceable, people and the experiences you have with them are not, spend a few days up with Tanya but please do come back, Esme will be distraught if you leave for too long"

"Thank you, Carlisle, we'll leave immediately" Rosalie made a move to stand again.

"make sure you say good bye to Esme before you go" Rose nodded and left the office allowing Carlisle to go back to desperately scanning over Sylvia's papers vainly hoping for something new to jump out at him.

#####

 **There we go, I hope it didn't get too messy at the end there. If anyone has any questions or suggestions, please feel free to leave a review.**

 **Anyway, thanks and see you in the next one!**


	5. Chapter 5 - finding my footing

Life at the Cullen's was tense for the first few days after the funeral but as the week came to a close and any sign of Jill calling faded away life slowly fell into a routine. Sylvia would wake up around 7 to wave off her older siblings as they ventured to school, before having whatever breakfast Esme had made her and sitting down for her lessons at the dining table. Esme took great joy in teaching Sylvia, for the sheer excitement the child held for every new piece of information she learnt. It left Esme wondering if she would make a good school teacher one day.

Halfway through the day Esme and Sylvia would make her lunch and at 4, when the rest of the family came home she would spend her time with each playing video games, listening to music, drawing or tagging along with whatever her older siblings were doing at the time. At 7 she ate whatever dinner Esme brought her in whatever room she was in (often Edwards). The idea of formal, all family diners had ended as soon as they begun everyone more than willing to not mention it again.

Each day ended at exactly 8:30 pm Sylvia was made to brush her teeth and headed into her room with the lights out. On occasion, when she had trouble falling asleep and Esme wasn't by her bedside to fill out the emptiness of her spacious room she would sneak into Edwards room and listen to music with him until she passed out on his lounge. She was happy and was slowly regaining some humanity to her mannerisms. So, when Carlisle told Sylvia that she was getting her cast removed her reaction was energetic and impatient, just like a normal child.

…

"So I'm going with you to work today right?" Sylvia asked bouncing in place with excitement, causing an uneasy frown to etch its self across Carlisle's face

"Not exactly dear, Esme will bring you down around lunch time and Dr Gillian will take your cast off. You remember Dr Gillian right?" Sylvia remembered Dr Gillian, he was one of the children's Dr and was the most energetic happy go lucky person she had met in her few weeks of memory. She didn't particularly want to see him again, he was tiring to be around and he spoke in annoying funny voices.

"Why can't you do it?" Sylvia suckled with a distinct wine to her voice as she crossed her arms over her chest and slumping against the kitchen bench she had been eating breakfast at.

The old man sighed. "Because I'll be working dear. Don't worry I'll drop by to see you're doing well you don't have to be scared"

"She's not scared" Edward spoke upon entering the kitchen, "she just doesn't like Dr Gillian, right?" He looked over to Sylvia accusingly, the girl just dropped her head in shame and blushed.

The frown that was already on the old vampires face deepened further it made the human child wonder if his face could get stuck like that. The woman in her dreams once told her to not pull funny faces when the wind changes, maybe it could happen to vampires. Her daydreams were shaken off by cool hands in her tangled hair

"Sylvia, why don't you like Dr Gillian?" Carlisle spoke his frowning face staying put.

Sylvia shook her head and looked to Edward for help using her thoughts to communicate silently with her best friend. After a minute, Edward sighed and rubbed his face with his hand. "Fine" his tone was flat but his eyes were caring. "I'll take her to get her cast off, she wants someone to complain to"

"Are you sure sweaty?" Esme askes brushing back Sylvia's wild curls as best she could.

"Yeah, I'm sure, sorry Esme"

"No, no, it's alright, why don't you two spend the day in town?" The woman suggested as she pinned the last of Sylvia's curls in place.

…

Spending time with Edward was always fun. The older boy never pointed out Sylvia's oddities and the girl found she was much less anxious when she didn't have to speak aloud to communicate. Her peculiar accent was a point of embarrassment for the young girl and just adding to the long list of reasons why Sylvia was certain she didn't belong here.

"Stop saying that" Edward snapped sharply as they walked to the hospital from the carpark, it had been raining but the air didn't smell dusty and fresh like Sylvia felt it should. The air felt chill and heavy, smelling of plants and the cold. It didn't fill her with the life it did in her dreams.

"Stop saying what?" The girl voiced trying to focus her mind away from the rain and into not slipping on the damp concrete.

"Stop saying you don't belong" his voice was sharp but his eyes were soft, putting out a hand to catching her around the waist as her foot slipped and she nearly fell. "Careful".

"Thanks" Sylvia grumbled repositioning her crutches under herself and brushing aside the conversation to focus more strictly on not falling. It was a pointless talk anyway; the argument had been fought before. Sylvia would point out all the reasons she should either be dead or non-existent and Edward would tell her thinking like that was unproductive and use his own life as a counterpoint, 'if you a human shouldn't exist then what am I?'. They were both stubborn and neither wanted to admit defeat.

…

Dr Gillian was infuriating as ever. He rushed about waving puppets and using funny voices, explaining the process of getting her cast off in more depth than necessary. When he finally got around to using the drill it had googly eyes and a pompom for hair stuck on it.

The process took forever for the increasingly impatient Sylvia who divided her time between mocking the good Dr in her mind for Edward to see and trying to imagine what running would feel like.

"There we go!" chirped the Dr, using his sock puppet to kiss her newly reviled left leg, which to Sylvia's disgust was even whiter than the rest of herself and was covered in dead skin. "Now we just have to get you cleaned up and under the X-ray to make sure you are all fixed inside".

Sylvia was then placed in a wheelchair and moved to a cream coloured room with a plastic looking bed placed underneath a large machine that hung down from the roof. It made her fingers tingle and when she reached out her hands in front of her face images flashed from beneath her eyes. She could make out herself being rushed into the same room on a hospital bed and placed under the machine. She was covered in blood with a brace around her neck and her leg bent in more places than it was supposed to, pipes and tubes branched out of her exposed skin like tree roots joining her to all sorts of ticking machines. She could hear yelling and footsteps rushing and the verrring of electrics. As she lowered her now shaky hand the images blew away like smoke. Turning her head Sylvia looked desperately to Edward for confirmation that she really saw what she did. He nodded in response, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, it didn't help her pounding heart much.

…

The X-rays showed that her leg looked completely healed but before she could jump off the hospital bed Dr Gillian put a compression bandage on her foot and started to fit her in to this odd-looking boot thing. "This is called a moon boot Sylvia" the Dr spoke, he lifted his sock puppet and put on a funny voice, opening his hand to make the puppet speak. _"A moon boot! Oh boy, how cool, are you going into space Sylvia?"_ "no, no Dr sock this isn't for going to the moon this is to help support your leg while you walk for a little while".

Rolling her eyes at the Dr's eccentric behaviour Sylvia didn't notice until to large boot-like structure had been secured to her leg. "Wait how long do I have to wear this?!"

"For exactly 2 weeks" chirped the Dr _"not long not long"_ chimed the puppet.

Sylvia felt completely defeated and thoughts of running blew away like her odd vision from earlier. "But two weeks is so long! do I still need crutches?"

 _"_ _Crutches no, no, you can walk all by yourself"_ "that's right Dr sock, do you want to give it a go now Sylvia?" The Dr put down Sylvia's foot and held out his puppet free hand to help her down. Gingerly taking his hand she hopped down from the bed and balanced herself on her new leg. Her foot still felt heavier than the other but was lighter than with the cast. Light enough that she could lift her foot on her own.

She took a shaky half step towards the door and another, keeping her eyes on her feet. Four unaided steps she made until she stumbled and fell forward hitting a cold hard surface, one that felt old and calm.

"Careful there" Carlisle chuckled placing his cool hands on the girl's shoulders to steady her.

"Ahh Dr Cullen just in time, she's all done here, although, I think she might need a bit of practice…" Dr Gillian spoke with no hint of silliness to his voice, Sylvia had to do a double take to make sure that it was him who was in fact talking.

"I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in no time" Carlisle spoke looking down at her, his calm voice like honey to her ears. "Now I think you and Edward should hurry home, I'm sure Esme will be will be looking forward to seeing you walking, she'll be very proud I'm sure."

'Proud' Sylvia let the word roll around her mind for a moment 'why would she be proud'. She scrunched up her nose and tightened her brow. "why would Esme be proud" She voiced her thoughts looking up at her adopted father.

Smiling kindly Carlisle knelt to Sylvia's level, "because you are trying your best".

…

On the drive home, Sylvia let her mind wander back to what she saw in the X-ray room, mulling over every detail. It wasn't a memory she was watching herself it couldn't have been, and she didn't think it was someone else's memory she couldn't read minds. It was like being a ghost or watching a movie that could only she could see.

"That wasn't normal was it, Edward," Sylvia asked her voice low and shaky.

Taking his eyes off the road the boy looked deep into his adopted sister's eyes trying to push across how serious he was being. "Nothing about you is normal Sylvia" his tone was as serious as his eyes, "but no your ability to see things like that is more… unusual, that your other oddities".

Looking back into his eyes she noticed how dark they had become he would need to leave soon to hunt, her heart sunk. "Have you told Carlisle yet?" she asked her voice just above a whisper.

"No I haven't told Carlisle yet, I promised you I wouldn't but we should probably tell them soon, these visions of yours have been increasing in frequency haven't they" Edward was telling the truth. Whatever these 'visions' were where becoming more detailed and prevalent. It was no longer just books that set them off but simple objects and photos and since her visit to the hospital now whole rooms.

"Can we just ignore it, for now, please?" she leaned back against the car seat felling her fingers tingle as images of Jasper sitting in the same seat from the other day brushed at her consciousness. 'I want to at least pretend I can be normal' her mind pleaded. Edward just chuckled warmly in return.

"Good luck with that"

…

Esme couldn't have been happier when she saw Sylvia hobble through the front door unaided. She smiled wide and held her arms out for the girl to walk into like a new mother encouraging their babies first steps. Sylvia obeyed happily Esme's arms were warm and loving despite being made of stone.

That day until the rest of the family returned from school was spent practising to walk until Sylvia was too exhausted to stand, then it was spent by Edwards piano learning basic notes and chords. Music wasn't a passion for the human like it was the immortal teenager but it was a skill that was entirely new to her and thus was never taken away by her amnesia and never showed up in her dreams. It was a skill she was truly learning for the first time, and that made it all her own.

When the door opened at four Sylvia got a strange urge to race over to her adopted siblings and show off her new boot and ability to walk, to bounce up and down and demand their attention. 'Odd' she frowned this was unlike herself, or at least she thought it was unlike herself her mind wasn't that old and she often wondered what was her normal. She looked to Edward for support, he just smiled softly and said: "go".

Sylvia didn't run like she wanted to feeling that much too strange but she did enter the lounge room with a big bright smile on her face. "Welcome home" she greeted as her four other siblings came into view.

Alice raced up to her a big smile on her face "look! Your walking all by yourself!"

"Yeah look I've got my own space boot" Sylvia pointed down to the cumbersome black brace on her left leg.

Alice's grin morphed into a frown and then to horror as she looked down at the girl's foot, "this won't do at all, non-of your clothes are going to match that hideous boot of yours, we're going to need to go shopping for you again!" Her voice was annoyed and a serious look of contemplation was planted firm upon her face. Jasper chuckled ever so lightly from across the room. Noticing this Sylvia smiled up wide at the blond boy putting all her joy into the grin in hopes that she could make up for the permanent distance that existed between them. Jasper smiled back, in turn, tho not as intensely, it was more soft and sweet but Sylvia was grateful for it non-the less. 'One day we will be close' she vowed.

…

Carlisle got home around eight dripping from the rain. This time Sylvia fully gave in to her 'human urges' (Edwards term) and ran to the living room to greet him. Part of her she realised wanted desperately to call him dad, but that she ignored. She didn't think she was ready for a dad yet.

"Carlisle!" she giggled as she raced out of the kitchen. As she turned the corner her mind begun to cloud her vision with foggy images of a man standing with open arms welcoming her in a sea of red, she could hear a train and feel the sun hot on her skin. She tried her best to push the image aside and keep moving but she was too late. Sylvia wasn't going fast, not even by human standards but when she slipped she still fell with enough force to cause her nose to start bleeding.

.

Her head spun and it took her a moment to realise she was on the floor and her face felt wet. "Owww" Sylvia groaned as she pulled her legs underneath her body to get on all fours and used a hand to wipe away the wet stuff on her face. Her mind went immediately to tears, she must be crying, that's what the wet was, but as she felt the stillness in the room her stomach dropped. Bringing her now wet hand up to her face she shook horrified. It was blood. She was bleeding in a house full of vampires. Hesitantly she raised her head covering her nose with her bloody hand and looked around. All five of her siblings stood perfectly still, no one was breathing and no one looked like they could move. If not for the hum of the TV in the background she might have believed time its self-had stopped. She then turned her head to make eye contact with a distraught looking Esme and then to a calm and collected Carlisle who was slowly approaching a cloth balled in one hand.

"I thought I told you to be careful" his voice still soft like honey but there was a cautiousness to it, a warning to everyone in the room. With now shaky legs Sylvia stood with painful slowness and took a shaky step towards Carlisle who caught her as she fell forward again. Falling this time felt like the whole world had slowed every second a minute, every breath an eternity but as soon as her body collapsed against her adopted father's everything snapped back into reality and Sylvia burst into uncontrolled tears. She heard hissing and growling and the rushed scuffling of feet. She heard someone yell, and someone sob and something smash and the splintering of wood and more yelling but all she could feel were the cool arms wrapping around her lifting her swiftly from the ground and placing her up high. She felt a cloth of some kind was pushed against her face and her head get tilted lightly back, but she refused to open her eyes or let go of the man whispering softly above her.

Quickly as it started the yelling and sobbing stopped and the only sound left were Sylvia's own chaotic cries and Carlisle's calm rhythmic breathing. Opening her wet eyes with caution she came face to face with a calm Carlisle who smiled gently and pet her hair with his free hand. The room behind him was an empty mess, glass was everywhere and blood was smeared across the floor, there was a hole in a wall and a smashed-up coffee table but not a soul in sight. She when back to crying into Carlisle's shirt until she could cry no more and fell into a dreamless sleep clutching onto her fathers' shirt.

…

Sylvia woke with her mind spinning and her nose throbbing. Every breath she took scraped like sandpaper and her eyes felt puffy and dry. Taking in her surrounding she found herself tucked into her bed with no light coming in from her open window. Her shirt had been changed and the ends of her hair were still damp. With shaky arms, she pushed herself up and swung her heavy legs over her bed, smiling grimly she noticed her foot brace was never removed. Stumbling out of bed she cautiously made her way to the door. She was terrified of what they were going to do next certain that it would be to send her away. She needed to apologise as soon as possible, to promise that it would never happen again.

The house was absurdly quiet and dark, nothingness ate at the corners of her vision like a hungry beast drooling around her waiting for her to stop moving so it could eat her up. She made her way down the stairs as slowly and carefully as she could the damaged she witnessed before she woke up was all but gone. The only evidence anything happened was a broken window and a missing coffee table. Hushed voices were coming from the dining room which she entered with slow wary steps. All around the large dining table sat a member of her family already looking directly at her as she entered holding onto the doorway for support. It was a family meeting, 'they're going to send me away' her mind screamed, her thoughts ripping away at the insides of her consciousness. Every memory she had since waking up in that toothpaste hospital room mocked her, laughing as they faded away. Nothing left to comfort herself with besides some blurry images of a couple in a sea of red and Jill.

Stumbling further into the room Sylvia dropped her head unable to look at any of their questioning eyes. "I'm sorry" she choked out past tears she didn't realise had begun to form. "Please I promise to be more careful, I-" her voice cut away and cool arms wrapped her in a loving embrace that emitted so much warmth.

"There, there dear it'll be okay" Esme cooed and she held her child and rubbed loving circles on her back. It wasn't Esme's voice Sylvia heard however it was a voice that was rougher but still warm, less perfect but still loving. Images filled Sylvia's mind of the woman waiting in the sand smiling up at her as she placed a large brightly coloured Band-Aid over a cut on the child's knee. "That's my brave girl" the kind-faced woman smiled her strawberry hair blowing around in a warm breeze light catching the ends like a halo.

"I'm sorry mum" Sylvia mimicked her memory as she looked up to see her image of the woman fusing with Esme until she couldn't remember what the kind-faced woman looked like anymore. Fresh tears filled her eyes as Sylvia buried her face into Esme's middle desperate not to let her go "mum I'm so sorry please don't send me away." Motherly arms wrapped tighter around the child.

Hushed voices began debating too low for Sylvia to hear but she didn't care. Her heart felt whole, she found what she had been waiting for. She found a home in the arms of a monster who lurked in the night with a body of stone and fangs of steal.

She was a simple lamb who found a home in a pride of bloodthirsty lions.

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Please review and let me know what you think! Anyway, hope you like it and have a good day! :)


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